More than Fire and Flash in the pan
The next big deal Namibian poetry is here
Poetry is one of the oldest art forms in the world and being on the rise in the entertainment industry with corporate companies also investing in it, tjil speaks to Julio and Fire, two of the rising phoenixes from the ashes of the cold streets to the conscious boulevard of words with deep meanings.
Julio
“They ask me, what the hell is poetry? I say poetry to me, is what someone cruel can never be: A form of inspiration. A form of exploration. Dating back to days when dates were gathered for rainy days on a day-to-day basis. Are you dazed and confused? Or has your brain been fused with the hazey confusion from the haze that I’m fuming?
“They ask me, what the hell is a spoken word? I say a spoken word is: A beautiful girl... built with verbal curves... dressed in nouns and verbs... my voice and your ears are her diamonds and pearls... she is my favourite girl... and her name is Spoken Word. That is what I would define as poetry,” says Julio.
Like any other kid on the block, Julio too wanted to be a rapper. Unfortunately because of his geographical location, musicians rarely make a lot of money to have it as a career and according to him, the trends that one would follow in the industry are not the ones to be bragging about. In his matric year he came across a newspaper article on grassroots poetry which was a workshop for high school learners provided by the FNCC. “I was attracted to it because it was performance poetry and I like to be on stage. It was a week-long training where we had to prepare and perfect our pieces for the public and that was my first encounter with poetry,” said Julio. Julio said after he got onto the Spoken Word stage he knew that it was not going to be his last time.
He said he was never given a reason not to love poetry. Spoken Word happens every first Wednesday of the month and Julio auditioned and performed until he became a household name. “Last year was my highlight year because I was very active on the stage and I worked really hard to get where I am today,” he said. The grassroots poetry session was having its second season and he was asked to perform and this year he was asked to be a facilitator which is a milestone for his career. “We had more than 60 people that applied but we could only facilitate 16 of them. I helped groom their performer’s aspect for the public showcasing. That went well and everyone had a good time. I also gained a lot of exposure,” he said.
Julio said he doesn’t have future plans but he does know where he’s heading with his poetry career. “Just being creative like mixing poetry with music or art and I would like to do something in that line,” said Julio. There are many people that are showing interest in poetry and there are more workshops that are meant to help us become better. Julio says people should follow their dreams if they want to become poets.
Fire
I got the name Fire from my name ‘Ndemufayo’ that many found hard to pronounce and I cut it short hence ‘Fire’, he said. Fire said he got introduced to poetry by fellow Spoken Word poet Julio. “All along I thought I was not good enough so I kept it in my books,” he said. Like many poets, Fire wanted to be a rapper but he realised that he didn’t want to tell his story through rap. He remembers Grade 9 being at the back of the class and writing rhymes with his best friend. “Being a rapper one doesn’t get to paint the picture the way they want to because they are conformed to a beat, but poetry is free-flowing and I can tell my story exactly the way I want it to be,” he said. Fire said his poetry doesn’t come from concepts but from everywhere. He would gather all his thoughts and have a piece. His first-ever poem was inspired by his first serious breakup which he wrote a very conscious piece about. “I recited the poem to Julio who was already on the poetry scene and he gave very positive feedback. I had terrible stage fright and he encouraged me to go to workshops to help me get over my fears,” said Fire.
Five years later (last month), Fire performed his first piece at Spoken Word and he indeed brought the fire! “I was writing and perfecting my skills all those years in between. I told myself that if I was to come out I was to come out with a bang and that’s exactly what I did,” he said.
Fire said the Spoken Word auditions helped him greatly because he got the hard core scrutiny that helped him a lot. “Patrick Sam, one of the chairpersons of Spoken Word Namibia is a very vital figure in my poetry career and he helped me come out as in embodying the piece within myself,” said Fire.
Fire’s future poetry plan is to keep growing and perfecting his talent. “I want more people to notice poetry in Namibia. I’m going to keep writing because I want to bring poetry to their attention. I will get into many more workshops to perfect my talent,” said Fire. Fire plans on working on a poetry mix tape. “For anyone that has a lot to say but can’t really do it in a conversation, come over to Spoken Word and talk to the masses the way you want to be heard,” he concluded.
June Shimuoshili
Julio
“They ask me, what the hell is poetry? I say poetry to me, is what someone cruel can never be: A form of inspiration. A form of exploration. Dating back to days when dates were gathered for rainy days on a day-to-day basis. Are you dazed and confused? Or has your brain been fused with the hazey confusion from the haze that I’m fuming?
“They ask me, what the hell is a spoken word? I say a spoken word is: A beautiful girl... built with verbal curves... dressed in nouns and verbs... my voice and your ears are her diamonds and pearls... she is my favourite girl... and her name is Spoken Word. That is what I would define as poetry,” says Julio.
Like any other kid on the block, Julio too wanted to be a rapper. Unfortunately because of his geographical location, musicians rarely make a lot of money to have it as a career and according to him, the trends that one would follow in the industry are not the ones to be bragging about. In his matric year he came across a newspaper article on grassroots poetry which was a workshop for high school learners provided by the FNCC. “I was attracted to it because it was performance poetry and I like to be on stage. It was a week-long training where we had to prepare and perfect our pieces for the public and that was my first encounter with poetry,” said Julio. Julio said after he got onto the Spoken Word stage he knew that it was not going to be his last time.
He said he was never given a reason not to love poetry. Spoken Word happens every first Wednesday of the month and Julio auditioned and performed until he became a household name. “Last year was my highlight year because I was very active on the stage and I worked really hard to get where I am today,” he said. The grassroots poetry session was having its second season and he was asked to perform and this year he was asked to be a facilitator which is a milestone for his career. “We had more than 60 people that applied but we could only facilitate 16 of them. I helped groom their performer’s aspect for the public showcasing. That went well and everyone had a good time. I also gained a lot of exposure,” he said.
Julio said he doesn’t have future plans but he does know where he’s heading with his poetry career. “Just being creative like mixing poetry with music or art and I would like to do something in that line,” said Julio. There are many people that are showing interest in poetry and there are more workshops that are meant to help us become better. Julio says people should follow their dreams if they want to become poets.
Fire
I got the name Fire from my name ‘Ndemufayo’ that many found hard to pronounce and I cut it short hence ‘Fire’, he said. Fire said he got introduced to poetry by fellow Spoken Word poet Julio. “All along I thought I was not good enough so I kept it in my books,” he said. Like many poets, Fire wanted to be a rapper but he realised that he didn’t want to tell his story through rap. He remembers Grade 9 being at the back of the class and writing rhymes with his best friend. “Being a rapper one doesn’t get to paint the picture the way they want to because they are conformed to a beat, but poetry is free-flowing and I can tell my story exactly the way I want it to be,” he said. Fire said his poetry doesn’t come from concepts but from everywhere. He would gather all his thoughts and have a piece. His first-ever poem was inspired by his first serious breakup which he wrote a very conscious piece about. “I recited the poem to Julio who was already on the poetry scene and he gave very positive feedback. I had terrible stage fright and he encouraged me to go to workshops to help me get over my fears,” said Fire.
Five years later (last month), Fire performed his first piece at Spoken Word and he indeed brought the fire! “I was writing and perfecting my skills all those years in between. I told myself that if I was to come out I was to come out with a bang and that’s exactly what I did,” he said.
Fire said the Spoken Word auditions helped him greatly because he got the hard core scrutiny that helped him a lot. “Patrick Sam, one of the chairpersons of Spoken Word Namibia is a very vital figure in my poetry career and he helped me come out as in embodying the piece within myself,” said Fire.
Fire’s future poetry plan is to keep growing and perfecting his talent. “I want more people to notice poetry in Namibia. I’m going to keep writing because I want to bring poetry to their attention. I will get into many more workshops to perfect my talent,” said Fire. Fire plans on working on a poetry mix tape. “For anyone that has a lot to say but can’t really do it in a conversation, come over to Spoken Word and talk to the masses the way you want to be heard,” he concluded.
June Shimuoshili
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